Apparatus for Removing Lottery Ticket Coatings

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The disclosure relates to material removal and collection apparatuses and more particularly pertains to a new material removal and collection apparatus for removing a scratch-off release coating from a lottery ticket or similar card and collecting resultant particles.

It can be time-consuming and messy to remove scratch-off release coatings from lottery tickets or other cards. The prior art provides several apparatuses which hold such items and collect shavings or particles of the scratch-off release coating in an enclosure after removal using typical scratching or abrading techniques and devices. However, such devices do not provide a means to simultaneously removal all scratch-off release coating of these cards in a single removal action which does not require repositioning of a removal tool. These devices also do not include a structure which allows for excess particles to fall off the card in a direction lateral to a direction of motion of such a removal tool. These improvements are needed in the art to facilitate removal of scratch-off release coatings more quickly and with less mess.

An embodiment of the disclosure meets the needs presented above by generally comprising a base with a bottom wall, a pair of lateral walls, and an end wall. The bottom wall extends between the pair of lateral walls, and the end wall extends between the pair of lateral walls and upwardly from the bottom wall. A platform is mounted to the bottom wall of the base and has an upper surface which faces away from the bottom wall of the base for supporting the card thereon. A chamber for containing removed scratch-off release coating particles is defined between the pair of lateral walls of the base and between the end wall of the base and the platform. A removal member is slidably mounted to the base and is slidable across the upper surface of the platform alternately toward and away from the chamber. The removal member extends across a full width of the upper surface of the platform between a pair of lateral edges of the upper surface.

There has thus been outlined, rather broadly, the more important features of the disclosure in order that the detailed description thereof that follows may be better understood, and in order that the present contribution to the art may be better appreciated. There are additional features of the disclosure that will be described hereinafter and which will form the subject matter of the claims appended hereto.

The objects of the disclosure, along with the various features of novelty which characterize the disclosure, are pointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming a part of this disclosure.

1 5 FIGS.through 10 With reference now to the drawings, and in particular tothereof, a new material removal and collection apparatus embodying the principles and concepts of an embodiment of the disclosure and generally designated by the reference numeralwill be described.

1 5 FIGS.through 10 12 14 16 18 14 16 18 16 14 24 14 12 26 14 12 24 12 46 26 24 As best illustrated in, the removal and collection apparatusgenerally comprises a basewhich has a bottom wall, a pair of lateral walls, and an end wall. The bottom wallextends between the pair of lateral walls, and the end wallextends between the pair of lateral wallsand upwardly from the bottom wall. A platformis mounted to the bottom wallof the baseand has an upper surfacewhich faces away from the bottom wallof the base. The platformand the basemay be integrally formed with each other to define a monolithic structure. A cardhaving a scratch-off release coating (e.g., a lottery scratch-off ticket) may be positioned on the upper surfaceof the platform.

28 48 16 12 18 12 24 28 22 12 38 28 22 12 12 20 16 16 12 16 18 12 12 30 24 16 16 30 28 A chamberfor containing removed scratch-off release coating particlesis defined between the pair of lateral wallsof the baseand between the end wallof the baseand the platform. The chamberis open at the top sideof the base, and an access dooris positioned to selectively provide access to the chamberthrough the top sideof the base. The basehas a pair of guide surfaces, each of which is coupled to an associated lateral wallof the pair of lateral wallsof the baseand is angled to extend inwardly from the associated lateral walland toward the end wallof the base. The basehas a pair of troughs, each of which is defined between the platformand an associated lateral wallof the pair of lateral walls. Each troughis in fluid communication with the chamber.

48 46 46 28 48 30 28 48 30 20 12 38 Scratch-off release coating particleswhich are formed during removal from the cardmay be swept over the cardinto the chamber. Scratch-off release coating particleswhich fall into the troughsmay also be swept into the chamber. Some of the scratch-off release coating particles, particularly those that fall into the troughs, may be directed by the guide surfacesof the baseinwardly such that a compact pile is formed adjacent to the access door.

32 12 32 26 24 28 32 26 24 27 26 32 46 32 32 46 A removal memberis slidably mounted to the base. The removal memberis slidable across the upper surfaceof the platformalternately toward and away from the chamber. The removal memberextends across a full width of the upper surfaceof the platformbetween a pair of lateral edgesof the upper surface. The removal membercomprises a polymer foam but may comprise any material suitable for removing the scratch-off release coating from the card. For example, the removal membermay comprise a brush, a sandpaper, a scraper, or the like. Whichever material is selected for the removal membermust be sufficiently rough, hard, sharp, or otherwise suited to remove the scratch-off release coating from the card.

34 32 34 30 30 34 30 32 46 24 34 32 A pair of sweeping membersis coupled to the removal member, wherein each sweeping memberis positioned in an associated troughof the pair of troughs. The sweeping membersslide along the associated troughswhen the removal memberslides across the cardover the platform. The sweeping membersare integrally formed with the removal memberbut may be separately formed and comprise separate material types in other embodiments.

36 32 34 12 36 32 22 12 17 16 12 32 36 46 32 36 22 12 32 24 A slider barslidably mounts the removal memberand the sweeping membersto the base. The slider baris coupled to the removal memberand has a U-shape which extends over the top sideof the baseand exterior sidesof the pair of lateral wallsof the base. The removal memberis positioned within the U-shape such that the slider baris positioned opposite the cardacross the removal memberduring use. The slider baris spaced above the top sideof the basewhen the removal memberis at rest atop the platform.

32 36 36 17 16 36 36 46 24 32 46 32 46 36 12 The polymer foam of the removal memberis resiliently compressible, and the slider barcomprises a rigid material. As such, the slider barmay be firmly gripped and may have a stable sliding contact with the exterior sidesof the lateral wallswhich is unaffected by compression of the slider bar. Meanwhile, the slider barmay be pressed downwardly against the cardover the platformto urge the polymer foam of the removal memberagainst the card, which thereby compresses such that friction is enhanced between the removal memberand the card. The spacing of the slider barfrom the basefacilitates such compression.

32 34 36 12 12 18 12 12 36 12 18 The removal member, the sweeping members, and the slider barare removable from the basevia pulling the same upwardly away from the baseor by sliding the same away from the end wallof the basethrough an opposite end of the base. In some embodiments, the slider barmay be secured to the basevia attachment to one or more tracks that run generally between the end walland the opposite end.

38 40 42 28 38 28 22 12 40 28 22 12 42 38 16 12 38 12 12 40 42 The access dooris movable between a closed positionand an open positionwith respect to the chamber, wherein the access doorcovers the chamberat the top sideof the basewhen in the closed positionand does not cover the chamberat the top sideof the basewhen in the open position. The access dooris pivotably mounted to the pair of lateral wallsof the base. In other embodiments, the access doormay be slidably mounted, to the base, removably mounted to the base, or otherwise movable between the closed positionand the open position.

44 46 24 44 46 26 24 24 44 A securement deviceif provided for securing the cardto the platform. The securement devicecomprises a clip which is biased to clamp shut. The clip is configured to clamp the cardonto the upper surfaceof the platform. The clip comprises a binder clip but may comprise any suitable clip in other embodiments, including clips in which the platformdefines one of a pair of jaws of the clip. In other embodiments, the securement devicemay comprise a weight, an adhesive, or another suitable fastening means.

46 26 24 44 32 46 48 28 34 48 30 28 In use, the cardis positioned on the upper surfaceof the platformand secured thereon via the securement device. The removal memberis abrasively urged along the cardto remove the scratch-off release coating and sweep the resultant scratch-off release coating particlesinto the chamber. The sweeping membersare also moved to sweep some scratch-off release coating particleswhich land in the troughsinto the chamber.

12 14 12 32 12 48 28 12 18 24 30 12 22 12 48 28 The basemay be positioned in a number of orientations during use which are advantageous to the removal of the scratch-off release coating. For example, the bottom wallof the basemay rest atop a support surface such that a user may lean into the removal memberin an effort to apply more friction on the scratch-off release coating. The support surface supports the baseduring such a process. To more effectively sweep scratch-off release coating particlesinto the chamber, the basemay be oriented with the end wallbeing positioned generally below the platformand the troughs. Finally, tipping the baseso that the top sideof the basefaces generally downwardly may facilitate dumping the scratch-off release coating particleswhich were collected in the chamber.

With respect to the above description then, it is to be realized that the optimum dimensional relationships for the parts of an embodiment enabled by the disclosure, to include variations in size, materials, shape, form, function and manner of operation, assembly and use, are deemed readily apparent and obvious to one skilled in the art, and all equivalent relationships to those illustrated in the drawings and described in the specification are intended to be encompassed by an embodiment of the disclosure.

Therefore, the foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the disclosure. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the disclosure to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the disclosure. In this patent document, the word “comprising” is used in its non-limiting sense to mean that items following the word are included, but items not specifically mentioned are not excluded. A reference to an element by the indefinite article “a” does not exclude the possibility that more than one of the element is present, unless the context clearly requires that there be only one of the elements.